Delhi-based Crazy Wolf Games makes it to European Accelerator Techpeaks

Techpeaks is an Italy-based Accelerator that is in its second edition. The Accelerator is supported by Trento RISE, an organization that connects several of the major actors in ICT research, education and business in the Trento region (Italy). The Accelerator class comprises of two segments — one for teams and individuals with an idea (‘alpinists’) and the other for teams and individuals without an idea but ‘looking for problems’ to solve (‘explorers’). Crazy Wolf Games, founded by Ashwin Bhambri, is a Delhi-based startup that has been selected for the program.

About the company

Ashwin has been building games since he was a kid — starting with Fingerball, a game he invented in school. It was a hit but as all school projects, it faded. “Now that I am into gaming full time, Fingerball has made a comeback, check out how much fun the kids playing it are having,” says Ashwin.

After working for Lightning Labs, Ashwin settled in Delhi where he attended a Startup Weekend in December last year with the intention of joining a team. “No idea that pitched interested me, so I got about pitching ‘The Global Entrepreneur’ (TGE),” says Ashwin. TGE is a trump card game that parents play with their kids and get them interested in entrepreneurship — the idea was accepted and the MVP was ready in a day. “On one Sunday, we got about interviewing parents on the streets of CP by showing them the card game and in the process secured two pre-orders and on the sixth day we delivered and made our first sale at INR 99 / Deck,” says Ashwin. This sale gave Ashwin the confidence to launch Crazy Wolf Games.

Crazy Wolf Games is vertical agnostic and builds games around any good and playable idea. The simple aim is to build games people love to play. Along with Ashwin, the team comprises of Joel Johnson, who has over a decade of experience in the gaming industry, and Dominik Jaroszek, an investment banker-turned-game developer and adventure freak.

Alongside TGE, Woofie is another game that is built around dog breeds and is typically for kids four years onwards. “It was made at the request of animal welfare organizations to help raise awareness for stray dog adoption and the proceeds from the sales go to them,” says Ashwin. The two games will be launching on Android and iOS soon and the roadmap also contains the creation of a trump card mobile game framework that anyone can build games on without having to know game programming.

About the Accelerator

Techpeaks is a not for profit Accelerator program initiated on the lines of Startup Chile. The program is in sprints. In the first sprint, the touchdown package offered to selected startups is valued at $25K USD that is inclusive of a cash grant, housing, office and infrastructure. In the second sprint, startups compete for $70k USD and extended housing, office and infrastructure support for a period of one year.

“Unlike other Accelerators, Techpeaks does not require one to belong to a startup team and is open to exceptional people in the ‘Explorers’ category who have a startup or want to start one,” says Ashwin.

Jubin is an old timer at YourStory. Deeply entrenched in the Indian startup ecosystem, he has written about more than 1000 startups. With an engineering background and a keen interest in data analysis, his passion for writing and entrepreneurship makes him a perfect match for Yourstory. He operates from the mountains in Dharamshala where he also runs a hackbase. He can be reached on Twitter @jub_in and on mail at jubin@yourstory.com